Recent HealthTech news segments have spotlighted some interesting developments, including:
In The News
Wearables
Wearable tech is getting new cheerleaders in the form of Thrive Global’s Arianna Huffington and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. The two are partnering to create Thrive AI Health, a personalized health coaching program. Using a patient’s biometrics (through wearable tech) and noted lifestyle habits, the healthtech intends to provide sleep, diet, fitness, stress management, and social health recommendations.
Our aging population is increasingly receiving care outside the hospital, either at home or in nursing homes. This ideally frees up hospital beds for the acutely ill and helps elderly patients find comfort in healing in their own environment. However, it also means that healthcare workers are required to provide out-of-hospital care, increasing their risk of harm (80% of nurses have seen or experienced workplace violence). To help protect their staff, some hospitals have introduced wearable devices that allow them to send an alert in an emergency. In this era of staffing shortages, it is imperative that we protect those who are working diligently to provide care!
Updates in Cybersecurity
A study by the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center showed that ransomware attacks on healthcare have doubled in 2023 compared to 2022. What’s worse, attempts at preventing or protecting the myriad of internet-based tech in hospitals may not work. According to cybersecurity company Claroty, a March 2024 report found that 23% of the firm’s studied medical devices have at least one “known exploited vulnerability,” and 14% are running an unsupported or end-of-life operating system, a technology that has a newer version available, and often will no longer receive updates.
HealthTech Growth
Teva Pharmaceuticals will soon release a generic version of Victoza, the original GLP-1 agonist (approved in 2010 for Type 2 diabetes). This has significant implications for access to the medications for patients who otherwise could not afford or obtain insurance coverage for the newer patented medications Ozempic & Wegovy.
- Important note: while these medications can make a huge difference in helping patients, they may not be permanent solutions. Stopping the drug will effectively result in weight gain unless patients can make appropriate lifestyle modifications.
- Another point of consideration: while there is speculation that these medications may make many treatments obsolete, it may not be true. Type 1 diabetes still exists and requires strict glucose management (continuous glucose monitors are key here). Mounjaro, for instance, may be showing improvement in sleep apnea for patients, yet not all sleep apnea is due to obesity or remedied by weight loss. Patients with central sleep apnea will still need their CPAP machines!
Langar’s analysis of Hospital Operations showed that HealthTech can provide the largest financial benefit when used to improve communication. The developers at Celo are capitalizing on this idea, creating an app that allows healthcare professionals to communicate about shared patients without compromising patient privacy.
AI
With AI exploding basically everywhere, it’s important to be able to tell the good ones from the bad. Just like during the .com boom not all websites were created equally, and so too is it with AI. To that end, the folks at UCSF Division of Clinical Informatics and Digital Transformation are developing an AI monitoring tool to double-check that an AI-based tech is doing what it should. For clinicians, this could have a huge impact on their workflows and on patient care. For developers, be alerted to make HealthTech that works!
Another UC made headlines recently as well. The healthcare team at UC San Diego has developed an AI tool, Composer, that can detect sepsis 4-6 hours before a clinician could, making it a game changer for treating patients promptly. As a result of this tool, they have reduced sepsis-related mortality by 17%!
Clinical uses of AI, such as the examples given, can help improve patient outcomes and save hospitals and patients time and money.
Speaking of hospitals saving money, rural hospitals are happily taking part in Jorie AI, a hospital billing program that reduces the stress of the hospital collections process. Stay tuned for how effective it is!
Retail Healthcare
Amazon’s RxPass for Medicare beneficiaries is expanding its reach, now offering same-day delivery in LA and NYC for up to 60 generic prescription medications. Of course, it will use generative AI to assist pharmacists in filling prescriptions, & speeding up the fact-checking process that comes with prescription management. Amazon confirms that each prescription delivery receives a final review by a pharmacist to ensure that the medication, dosage, amount, and recipient are accurate.
Stats
- $7.7 Trillion, per CMS, is the projected healthcare spending cost by 2032, or 19.7% of total US GDP (vs. $4.8 trillion and 17.6% of GDP in 2023).
- 21% of $7.2B in VC funding went toward AI-based healthcare companies in 2023, with $2.8B already invested in 2024 so far.
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Sanjana Vig MD, MBA
Dr. Vig is a co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Langar Holdings. She is a board-certified anesthesiologist specializing in Perioperative Management. She is also the founder The Female Professional, a website geared toward empowering professional women in life and their careers.
